The power of the dog
by Caruncle
Summary: Contains some MINOR spoilers for season 8. Barney finds himself adopting a dog but realizes there is a lot to learn. Can Robin help him out? Will hopefully be 2-4 chapters in total :


So I have been massively lacking inspiration of late but then today I found out the teeny season 8 spoiler that Barney adopts a dog in one of the episodes and for some reason it got my creative juices following! So here it is! There's going to be two or three parts which I'll hopefully have up soon. Any reviews are always welcome and as I'm bored out of my mind revising for exams at the moment they really do make my day. Obviously I don't own the characters, well apart from Archie, and he's cute, so I might keep him.

**The Power of the Dog**

**Chapter 1**

Barney Stinson isn't really sure why or how but somehow, in some weird version events Barney Stinson is now a dog owner.

It had all been a bit of blur, he'd been walking home when he'd seen him tied to a lamp post out the back of the GNB building. At first he figured the dog must have just been left there while someone had popped into the building but when he'd got back to work the next morning he was still there tethered to the same post. He found himself thinking about the dog the majority of the morning and by lunchtime he'd gone into the kitchen stolen a bowl from under the sink, filled it with water and taken it down to the parking lot to see if the dog was thirsty. As he'd first approached him he looked terrified, well at least that's what Barney figured he was thinking, and it seemed about right, but after he'd had a drink he seemed to start to trust him a little bit more, coming a little closer and sheepishly wagging his tail

He spent the majority of his lunch break with his new companion who by the end had not only trusted him enough to drink the entirety of the water but was eating the ham out of his sandwich. After hour Barney looked down at his watch and realised he was ten minutes late for his meeting. As he turned to walk away he heard a small whimper as the dog sat back down, seemingly sad his new friend was leaving him so soon. Barney had taken two more steps before quickly turning round and untying him from the railings he'd be tethered too and as he did he couldn't help but smile as he felt the gentle wagging of his tail against his shins.

He decided to call him Archie; it's what he'd always wanted to call the dog he'd wanted as a kid and he did kind of look like an Archie. He knew he should probably just cancel one or two of his meetings, call a cab and take him down to the pound but after he'd spent the whole afternoon with him and his legend-doggy ways he didn't really want to take him anywhere but home with him. He knew it was selfish, and that he knew nothing about dogs, but he'd had the shittest year and so what if he kept the dog for one night- it felt nice to be doing good for someone, or something, and being appreciated for it for a change.

So on the way home he stopped by the pet store, picked up some food, a bed, one of those squeaker toys he'd seen dog's playing with on TV and a couple of books on 'owning your first dog'. He'd also replaced the piece of rope he'd been using as a leash with a nice leather slip lead. As he got to the counter he did a double take a how much 'being needed' was going to cost him but when he looked down at the chocolate eyes of his little scruffy companion he caved immediately. After all, this little dude had no-one and so he'd help him out, even if it was just until he found a full time home.

He'd initially set Archie's stuff up in the kitchen, the book had said it was good to get some distance between you and your dog, but as he shut out the kitchen light on his way to bed, it took two whimpers before Archie's new bed was on the floor next to Barney's, he knew what the book said, but last night Archie had been outside in the cold- he deserved not to be sad, at least for one night, he'd start the proper regime tomorrow.

But as it turned out, the next two nights followed the exact same pattern, Archie would start in 'his zone' in the kitchen and ten minutes later would be down, fast asleep, complete with bed, next to the bedside table. Barney didn't care though, because although he wouldn't admit it yet, he kind of liked Archie being near him.

He hadn't told any of the gang about him yet, it seemed stupid to tell them about something that probably wasn't permanent. But when there was a knock on his door two days later he didn't really have a chance. Archie had taken to barking when anybody came to the door and so when the doorbell went he didn't really get the chance to hide him or deny his existence.

He knew why they'd all come over; they'd taken to doing about once a week since Quinn left. They didn't have the time to keep in regular contact anymore but it was almost as though they felt guilty every now and then and would come round en mass to see how he was doing. But today was different because today he had a new distraction that thankfully effectively diverted the conversation from his feelings onto better things.

They had all looked a little shocked at first. It was no great secret that Lily was a cat person and so spent the majority of the evening hidden behind Marshal. Marshal and Ted were questioning him, asking him how it all came about but even though he was talking he couldn't help but watch Robin. She didn't really say much, she never did anymore, but for the entirety of the evening she sat on the floor with Archie, running her hands through his coat and playing with ears. She got up twice, once to go to the bathroom; Archie had got up and followed her, waited at the door, before walking her back to their space on the floor (hey, at least he was a gentleman). The second time she'd gone to get a drink from the kitchen, he'd followed her again and had been especially pleased when she'd just so happened to find a piece of ham in Barney's fridge.

Even though he was supposed to be listening to Lily and Marshal, who were now telling him how difficult it was to have a new born, he couldn't help but smile as Robin made Archie sit next to the fridge. She was such a natural and he watched her smile as Archie, once again, did what he was told. She tried to get him to do 'paw' but he didn't understand, so she patiently tried to teach him. He got it eventually, and he smiled as she told him he was a good boy before giving him yet more ham. She was so gentle, so quiet, it was a side of her he hadn't really seen before and he just wanted to watch her, if for nothing else to learn how to be a 'dog' person.

Lily and Marshal made it quite clear they wanted to leave about half an hour later, they had to get back because the sitter was expecting them and Barney could see Ted glancing at his phone, it had been vibrating for the last half an hour, Victoria was clearly done at the restaurant. But as the others got up to leave he glanced over at Robin, although she'd picked up her bag she was certainly taking her time saying goodbye to Archie who in turn was resting his head in her lap, lucky dog.

It was only when Ted, Lily and Marshal were stood in the doorway, coats on ready to go that she got up. Archie went to follow her again but she bent down, stroked his head again and told him to stay here, she'd come and see him again soon. She looked genuinely quite sad to be leaving and Barney couldn't help feeling the same way. He'd loved seeing her with Archie, it was the first time in while she'd relaxed around him. He'd forgotten how beautiful she could be when she didn't even realise it. God, no, not this again- move on, move on quickly, he was not falling for her again. No, he refused.

She was the last one out the door and as she went to leave she hovered slightly. Barney turned to her; he knew her well enough now to know she wanted something. She turned to leave again before he asked her what was up. She just smiled and said she'd forgotten how much she enjoyed spending time with a dog. He hadn't seen her light up so much in a while as she talked about how Archie reminded her of her grandma's terrier who she used to walk while she was growing up. As she finished the story he was unsure of what to say, he knew he wanted to invite her back in for a scotch so she could tell him more stories about dogs, about what he should and shouldn't be doing, but mainly just to bridge the gap that existed between them now, because after everything- she was still his best friend and he missed her. But then her phone vibrated against her thigh, it would be Nick. She glanced quickly at her phone before walking straight past him to say goodbye to Archie one more time. Logically he knew a dog couldn't be sad, but Archie was doing a darn great job trying.

'He's a lovely dog Barney. You're very lucky'

'Well yeah, he's legend-doggy,' She laughed. He'd missed that.

'If you ever want any old toys, I've still got my old boys' balls and stuff in storage, they're just going to waste,' She trailed off, but he could see she wanted an excuse to come and see Archie again

'What'd you say Arch? Want some new toys?' Archie had lifted his head, cocking it slightly to the side.

'It's good he knows his name?'

'He does?'

'Yeah, when you said Arch he cocked his head,'

'Well at least I've taught him something,' she smiled. She looked beautiful, No Stinson. Don't do this. 'and look if those toys are just going to waste? I'm sure Archie can, well you know, do whatever a dog does with them,'

'Sure, how about I swing by tomorrow?'

'Tomorrow?'

'Oh is that not good?'

'No tomorrows perfect, about 11?'

'Ok, well, I'll see you tomorrow then. Night Archie,' He cocked his head on cue again. He was a pro. She turned her attention back to Barney and smiled. 'Night,'

'Night,' He closed the door behind her before looking over at Archie. 'Good boy, now come on, bed time. We've got a big day tomorrow,'

xxx

She got to his just after 11. When she'd said she had toys, she wasn't lying. She had every toy that Archie could ever possibly want, like some sort of Doggy Santa Claus. He'd made a joke about it but she was too distracted playing tug of war with Archie and a poor defenceless worm that she hadn't noticed. He made them coffee, and they chatted some more. She gave him some tips about what he should and shouldn't be feeding him and about how to go about training him. Barney was really surprised how much she knew. He'd always known how much she loved dogs but he'd never realised she had a genuine passion for them before- Archie clearly knew. He'd attached himself to her again, following her around like a literal lost puppy.

Two hours later they both realised the time and Robin got up quite quickly, very apologetic for wasting his morning and disturbing his plans but he reassured her he'd had no plans, well other than walking Archie, but he could do that now. He paused.

'Do you want to come?'

'To the park?'

'I mean you don't have to,'

'No, that'd be really nice. I love dog walking' He knew she wasn't lying, or making excuses and if truth be told it'd be nice to have some company.

They walked in the park for just over two hours. Robin showed him how to get him to heel and how it was important to start teaching some basic recall. She believed all dogs should be walked off the lead, but before you let them off you had to be sure they'd come back. Two hours (and about four packets of ham) later Archie was really starting to respond, he would now sit and do paw on command and was starting to walk to heel. His recall still needed some work but Robin assured him it would come with time.

He'd forgotten just how easy she was to spend time with and how much they had in common. Half way round they'd both wet themselves laughing when Archie had picked up a stick that was way too big for him and completely unaware of its width he'd taken out some little kid's legs. Thankfully the kid's parent had found it is as funny as they had and graciously accepted their apology.

They had to literately drag Archie back up the street to Barney's apartment- the poor little thing was exhausted but Robin assured Barney it was a good thing- 'it just shows he's had enough exercise'. As soon as he opened the front door Archie scuttled straight in, resumed his now normal position on the rug in front of the TV, and promptly fell asleep. They both watched this in silence, and while she was still transfixed, watching his little chest rise and fall Barney realised just how close they were standing. He could smell her perfume again, it hadn't changed and his eyes fell onto the spot on her next that he knew made her, well, it made her very 'happy'.

Before he could continue his train of thought he realised she wasn't looking at Archie anymore. She was looking at him and she was blushing. He took a reflex step backwards, he knew she had a boyfriend and he didn't want to get into that situation again. He'd barely got through it once, he wasn't about to let himself go back to square one again. She was still blushing and the silence had gone very quickly from comfortable to awkward. Swing it back Stinson, don't ruin this now.

'Thanks for showing me everything today, Archie's lucky his Auntie Robin knows this stuff,'

'No, you're doing great with him. As I said yesterday, he's really lucky to have you,' it was weird, but in that moment he was taken back to that moment when he'd told her he was engaged. Her eyes looked the same, her body language was the same and her voice had gone all high pitched. It made him excited yet uncomfortable all at the same time. It was time for her to go; he knew that, she knew that. Then why were neither of them moving? He begged his legs to move towards the kitchen and then she'd move towards the door and it'll all be fine. Move!

Finally his legs moved, and almost at the same time so did hers, so they were back, a sensible distance apart. It was weird, something still felt wrong but at least he felt back in control.

'Well, I could definitely use your help as much as possible, so if you ever want to go out again.' She couldn't hide her eye brow raise 'I mean out with the dog, out with Archie, in the park again, then feel free. It's good for him to have someone who knows what they're doing; at least that's what the books say,'

'Well how about Tuesday evening?'

'Tuesday evening sounds great,'

'Bye then,'

'Bye' He closed the door behind her, and looked over to Archie for some inspiration as to why were their goodbye's always so awkward but he was still fast asleep, curled up, very cutely on this rug. And in that second, that's when Barney Stinson knew- he was officially a dog person now, and you know what? He kind of liked it.


End file.
